Mr. Al Harpenau began his career with the Russellville School District when he graduated from Arkansas Tech University. He taught and coached nine (9) years at Russellville Middle School. During this time he graduated from University of Central Arkansas with his Master’s degree in Educational Leadership. He became RMS assistant principal for three (3) years and then served ten (10) years as RMS principal. He became Russellville Junior High Principal where he served for seven (7) years. As Mr. Harpenau begins his 30th year in the district, he is excited to be the new principal of Russellville High School. He is excited about leading the outstanding faculty and staff who devote their lives to educating children.

Mr. Harpenau attended the Arkansas Principal Institute in 2005 and received the Arkansas Middle School “Principal who Makes a Difference Award” in 2010. He is a member of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators (AAEA) and the Arkansas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (AASCD).

His educational philosophy of leading has been shaped and cultivated over the years by many different people, some of whom also spent much of their careers in the Russellville School District. Mr. Harpenau believes that if you take care of the little things, the big things take care of themselves. He brings this philosophy to RHS, where he and the faculty and staff will work together to continue to provide the BEST education possible to ALL of the students. His vision is to instill within RHS students the importance of an education through hard work, relationship building, and doing the right thing. Students at RHS will be challenged to reach their highest potential, both personally and academically.

Mr. Harpenau is married to Donna (Jacimore) Harpenau. They have three children: Alaina Meares, Mallory and Ryan, all of whom are RHS alumni. Mr. Harpenau is looking forward to an outstanding 2018-2019 school year….Go Cyclones!